THE Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria requires that the President’s nominees for appointment into the top echelon of government – Ministers, Judges, Ambassadors, Chairmen and Members of Federal Executive Bodies – must be subjected to a screening process in what has become known as the Advice and Consent of the Senate.

I FELT deep sadness over the weekend when news broke, that the Emir of Borgu, Alhaji Haliru Dantoro died in Germany, at the age of 77.

The fortunes of the Nigerian Army have of late been going down precipitously. A military force that was for a long time the pride of the country, and was deservedly celebrated for its peace keeping skills across the continent and beyond, has suddenly descended into disgrace. To be sure, the responsibility for the illfortune of the Nigerian military as a whole and the Army in particularly lies with the military.

One of the qualities that recommended, even endeared, President Muhammadu Buhari to a majority of the electorate over and above former president Goodluck Jonathan in the last election was that of resoluteness. His first coming as military head of state had left no one in doubt that his mind, once made up, can be as unbending as his steely spine.

THIS is one of the reasons why reformers fail: perception is indeed everything. I’ve mentioned before that those who speak for President Buhari do him no favours: from his spokesmen to the impromptu zealots and sycophants who make such strange and absurd claims as the President’s “shyness” around women.